Drumeo Review

Intro

Thinking about signing up for Drumeo, but not sure if it’s worth the money? I’ve bought and used all of the options for drum lessons online, so I wrote reviews of them to help you determine which one is best for you.

Drumeo Edge (which consists of Drumeo Live lessons and an organized archive of video lessons) earned our highest rating for its 100’s of hours of lesson archives, excellent interface, and experienced team of 20 teachers.

It’s cheaper than private lessons, but $29.95/month is still worth an in-depth look, so let me take you through all the details in my Drumeo review below.

Video Tour

Features

– 250+ hours of archived lessons
– Filters to find the style and skill level you are looking for
– 5 or 6 live lessons added every week (live and archived)
– Live lessons have chat function to ask the instructor questions
– 20 different teachers covering a wide range of styles
– Play-along tracks included to practice your skills
– Sheet music and MP3s for all lesson material
– Videos are available in both HD and standard definition
– All content is online, so you don’t have to wait or pay for shipping
– Take lessons on any device (desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone)
– Community forum for asking and answering questions

Screenshots

FAQ

Here are the most common questions I receive about Drumeo. If you have more, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to find an answer for you.

Q: How much will this cost me?

A: $29.95 per month

Q: If I don’t like it, can I get my money back?

A: If you are dissatisfied for any reason, just call them up within 90 days and they’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Q: How does Drumeo Edge compare to private lessons?

A: In my experience, Drumeo is going to be less expensive than any worthwhile private instructor. And 80% of the time, these online lessons will actually be more valuable, because 1) the instructor has more time to give examples and explain concepts, 2) the material can be easily viewed and reviewed 24/7/365, and 3) Drumeo offers more camera angles, sheet music, and MP3s than would ever be possible with a live instructor. These are the economies of scale.

However, some benefits of private lessons don’t scale so well. I would recommend that beginners use Drumeo for 6 months or so while they get comfortable with all of the fundamentals. Then find a reputable private drum instructor who can give you feedback about your technique and fill in the gaps in your musical understanding. After 3-6 months with the instructor, you’ve probably completed the beginning stage and are ready to build experience with all of the styles, songs, and exercises. This will take you a while (several years) before you feel really well-versed and throughout that period you might follow a regimen of 9 months online, 3 months private, 9 months online, 3 months private, etc. Of course this can and will vary depending on many factors, but it’s an approach you might consider to reap benefits from both lesson formats.

Q: How many lessons will I have access to?

A: Drumeo Edge has over 250 1-hour lessons in its archive currently (2012) and they release 5 new lessons every week. You’ll also get access to a large library of play-along videos/tracks.

Q: How many instructors are there?

A: There are currently 20 instructors and they will add more if needed to cover interest for some particular niche.

Q: System requirements?

A: As long as you have a reasonably modern computer and an internet connection faster than 56k dial-up, you should be fine. The videos are available in HD and standard definition so you can choose which is best for your connection. The website works on both PCs and Macs, and has been optimized for mobile devices like Android phones, iPads, and iPhones, so you can easily put it on your music stand and mix it in with your practice.

Q: Can I learn actual songs with Drumeo Edge?

A: The focus of most lessons is on techniques and exercises to get you to a level where you can hold your own with other musicians. However, while the live lessons do not focus on actual songs, they have separately recorded a library of 50 play-along tracks for you use and experiment with, complete with notation. These include songs from hard rock, alternative rock, pop rock, folk rock, latin, and jazz.

Properties

Drum Lessons

Overall Rating

This is my overall rating for the course. It is based on a weighted rating algorithm that uses dozens of factors.

Rating: 97.9%

Price

The current price of drum lessons (not including any coupon codes, trials or discounts we find for you.)

$29.95/month

Cost/Lesson

Price divided by total lessons. Note: We assume 12 full months of membership for online lessons.

$1.43 / Lesson
~$1.25 / Hour

Best Deal

To help you save money, we find deals and coupon codes for each of the drum lessons we review.

Cons

– Access requires monthly subscription
– Old drumming courses are sold separately
– Lessons are usually about an hour
– Computer and Internet connection required

Lesson Format

Each lesson starts with the instructor rocking out with an example of the lesson’s material. This will last for a few minutes and then the instructor and moderator will discuss the topic and any housekeeping updates regarding the website. Then around the 5-minute mark they will get into the 10 or so exercises for that lesson.

As you can see, they give you a couple different camera angles as well as the sheet music to follow along with. They also use something called SmartBeat to show the bouncing ball above the music as the instructor plays. I find it very useful to be able to see both the hands, feet and music all in one screen.

If you’re viewing a live lesson then you will be able to discuss the material with other students and ask the instructor questions through the chat room. They also have some giveaways for the live viewers, but the lesson material and feedback is more than enough reason to attend.

Instructors/Styles

Each Drumeo lesson is taught by one of their 20 highly-qualified instructors and is moderated by an assistant.

Each instructor has their own specialties and strengths and this allows Drumeo to offer you lessons on every aspect of drumming from someone who really excels in that area.

Lessons range from beginner to advanced in every style and there are very handy filters built into the lesson library.

So if you are a beginner just starting out, you can set it so that you don’t get overwhelmed with the advanced material.

Sometimes it’s nice to watch that stuff just for inspiration. Lesson 112 – “Introduction to Blast Beats” is a personal favorite of mine.

Here’s a small sample of lessons on a wide range of topics you’ll find in the Drumeo Edge member’s area:

Tools/Resources

The resources are fairly straight-forward, but everything is high-quality and exactly what you need. Each lesson video uses several camera angles so that you can see exactly what the instructor is talking about. The camera angles may sometimes be combined with the sheet music so that you can view everything at the same time.

The sheet music is available directly below the video or you can download it as a PDF. They also have each exercise recorded independently at two different tempos so you can quickly queue up the specific exercise, put it on repeat, and play along. And if you’re attending a live lesson (versus those in the archives), you can ask the instructor questions via the chat room.

If you miss a live lesson because work runs late or you’ve got tickets to the game, you can always find it in the Lesson Library and watch it when you have time.

There you have access to a couple hundred archived lessons with 5 new lessons added each week.

The new lessons they add are mostly from Drumeo Live, their daily live lessons with chat support.

Plus, you can always discuss your questions and drumming interests in the forums with other students and instructors.

To see everything that’s available, check out the video tour with co-founder Jared Falk in the Video Tour tab at the top of this page.

Is Drumeo for You?

For most students, I predict the answer will be yes. Even compared to live lessons (which I’ve had for more than a decade), I would have preferred Drumeo for most of those years.

Once you get to the semi-professional level, you’re going to need a private teacher to give you direct feedback and help you make contacts in the industry, but until you’re ready to make that step, Drumeo is less expensive, more flexible, and offers more resources than could ever be expected from a private teacher.

If you’re concerned about not being motivated enough to take advantage of the live lessons, then Drumming System (their DVD course) might be better for you. Not having lifetime access is the only real downside of Drumeo, so if you prefer to have lessons waiting for you until you’re ready, then I would go with Drumming System.

Otherwise, Drumeo is going to offer the best value for money of anything out there. Either way, it’s worth giving it a shot for a month to see if it’s worth the investment in your drumming long-term.

Conclusion to my Drumeo Review

I hope you enjoyed my review of Drumeo and that you now have a better idea of whether it’s right for you.

Drumeo Rating:

Top Rated Drum Lessons

About Drum Lessons Review:

Hi, I'm Ben. I've been a drummer for over 15 years. My goal with this site is to help you find great drum lessons.

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